The real challenge will be keeping it out of the bathtub.
Eight boats sail across the elongated double-page spreads, rendered in primary-color watercolors and accompanied by an appropriate sound.
Movement and proportional size are implied by both the sounds and changes in how the water is depicted. The cruise ship takes up almost the entire 24-inch expanse and sits in a deep, blue sea of calm, while the speedboat seems ready to zip through choppy water on the recto, leaving a foamy wake on the left. Some of the boats will be foreign to many board-book–age children, but that won't stop them from making the boat noises: “whee, whee,” for the fireboat, “hooooonk,” for the ocean liner, and “chum-splish, chum-splash,” for the paddle boat. The joke about the noise a gondola makes will go right over the heads of young children, but it will make their parents smile, and soon toddlers will be singing “O sole mio,” too. There is no clutter to this book. Smart parents will use it as a vocabulary builder and then explore the 623.8 shelves at the library to satisfy the curiosity it will arouse. The 12-inch-wide by 6-inch-high format will make it hard to shelve, but no matter—it won't sit on the shelf for long.
The real challenge will be keeping it out of the bathtub. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2900-6
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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